iMiss My Miss America
by White Firebird
Summary: Oneshot, based off the song 'Miss America' by Something Corporate. When Freddie finds himself feeling alone and on the other side of the world, can a certain blonde fix things and make him happy again?


**Hey guys, how goes everything? Here's a little one-shot I got the inspiration for writing after listening to one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands, the same song that is used in this story. I figured it'd be nice to put this up as I'm writing the last chapter of T & C...and here it is. Hope you all enjoy!**

**I don't own the show, Dan does. I don't own the song or band...they own themselves. And you still can't use another man's toothbrush.**

* * *

_Another lonely night in Amsterdam_

_The stars are coming out in waves_

_And I miss my Miss America from Park Hotel_

_But I'm too stoned to call today_

As the song played softly from his Pear Pod, Freddie Benson sat on the balcony of his hotel room at the NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky in, where else, Amsterdam. It had been three and a half months since he was transferred out here from his post in Seattle, working for the Pear Corporation. He questioned why his higher ups had him transferred to Amsterdam of all places, but he just went with it and packed his bags, with the promise that he'd be back within 6 months if he helped boost sales during his stay in that time period. But alas, it had come at a bit of a cost for him. It meant that he had to leave behind his life, his friends, and most importantly…he had to leave behind a certain blonde named Sam Puckett.

That the fact that, before he left, he felt like he was losing Sam didn't help matters either. He couldn't quite pinpoint the exact moment in time where he began to feel this way, but he did know that it had been like that for a few months at this point. Like they had woken up one day in their apartment and everything just changed, for the worse. She seemed to be getting colder, distant, and more secluded. Whenever she got home from school, she barely talked to him about anything when he seemed so eager to engage in any sort of conversation with his girlfriend. She would maybe say ten words then ask what they were eating for dinner, and then it would be a few scarce words here and there for the rest of the night. He didn't understand it. Was she growing bored with him? Did she want out of their relationship so she could spread her wings and perhaps become the Sam Puckett of old? Many questions had been racing through Freddie's head ever since he had begun to feel this way. When he told her that he was being transferred to Amsterdam, it was met with a flat sigh and a lazy roll of the eyes. No begging for him to stay, no asking if there was any way that she could join him, none of that. It was as if she didn't care that he was leaving her for close to six months.

_When everything you wanted,_

_Is hard to hide behind your eyes._

_And I'm locked in my hotel room,_

_Turning over our goodbyes._

At first, after arriving, he had called her every day, despite the obvious time difference, because he knew that even if she had to be at school the next morning for her 8:05 class, she'd be awake because she rarely slept. The calls were steady, and Freddie felt like he was making progress towards mending the fractures in the bridge that had unexpectedly popped up along the way. But then he would call and she wouldn't answer her phone. He'd call their apartment and find that she replaced the message they had both recorded with something she did herself, which stated that she was either out on the scene, sleeping, eating, or doing all three at once. And it also said that if she didn't know the number, she didn't know who you were, and therefore, she didn't care. But she knew the number he was calling her from. Yet, she rarely called back, often telling him that she was too busy to chat on the phone and that anytime she returned one of his calls, it was a gift from her to him.

So he began to write letters instead. Freddie knew that writing would get to her, make her respond in the way he wanted her to; after all, two years ago, when he had to take a job in Florida over the summer, and had no way of contacting her through a phone or the internet, he wrote to her, and she wrote back, and it only strengthened the connection they had at the time. Now, the strength of that connection was in question, and Freddie didn't know what to do about it, until he decided to write his one and only true love every week. After the first one he had written was sent, to his surprise, he received a return letter from Sam four days later. She explained that this was easier to do for her, since she could write these to him during her math class instead of doing what she had been doing in it since elementary school; fall asleep. She also said that she loved the fact that he was feeling nostalgic and wanted to write to her; she found it quite amusing (which Freddie correctly translated as her way of saying 'cute' or 'adorable' or 'romantic'.) But even when she did write him back, Freddie still felt that pang of loneliness and separation creep into his heart and chip away at everything that he and Sam had shared over the course of their six year relationship (they had started going out during their senior year of high school).

_I will write this down for you,_

_So you can read this._

_I will hold my breath for you,_

_Till I can't feel it._

The song continued to play softly into the night. Freddie grabbed a book from underneath his chair and began to flip through it. It was a personal scrapbook that Sam had made for him on their fourth anniversary, and he had been updating it ever since. One picture in particular, however, caught his eye, and made him remember why he had even mustered up the courage to ask the fiery blond out in the first place six years ago.

It was their senior year, right before Christmas. Sam's mother had upped and left her for some random dude in Canada (he was a hockey player…or a zamboni driver, whatever), so she had nowhere to stay. Deciding that not even someone like Sam, the same girl who had tortured him physically and emotionally for years, should spend Christmas alone, he offered her the guest room in his home until her mother came home from her Canadian sojourn with boyfriend number 2,315 or whatever. He didn't expect her to say yes, truth be told. If anything, he was expecting her to say 'Thanks, but I'm not living with that crazy woman you happen to call a Mom, so I'm staying at Carly's…nub.' What he didn't expect was what he heard that day…

* * *

_"So…let me get this straight. You're offering me your guest room in your apartment because you don't want me spending Christmas alone."_

**"Yeah, that's right."**

_"You offer me said guest room when you know that I'd of probably ended up crashing at Carly's place anyways."_

**"I just figured I'd ask and do the right thing. I wasn't expecting you to say yes or anything like that. I just wanted to show that…"**

He stopped short of what he was about to say. Did he dare risk his neck telling the one girl on Earth something he'd of never dreamed telling her a few years ago? He looked at Sam's face, uninterested, hand on her hip, tapping her foot on the ground, impatiently waiting for him to say whatever so she could move on and go back across the hall.

_"You wanted to show me what? I don't have all day, dork."_

**"I just wanted…to show you that…that I care about you."**

The hardened glare that Sam had been giving him softened considerably. Her pursed lips parted, and her eyebrows were raised in a bit of shock. She had been expecting him to say something stupid and then leave it be, but this…this took her by surprise. Freddie looked into her eyes and gave her a smile. Slowly turning on his heel, however, he was walking away thinking that he had made the offer for nothing.

**"I'm just gonna go home, Sam…I'll uh, I'll see you tomorrow or whatever. Hope you have fun over at Carly's."**

But as he put his hand on the doorknob, he was spun back around and then pushed into the door, Sam grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and kissing him. It was the second kiss they had shared together, but it was more passionate and deeper than their first one. The two of them stayed like this for close to a minute, before Sam broke off and gave him her trademark grin, before punching him (as light as she allowed…which was still pretty hard) in the gut before walking into Carly's home and yelling…

_"Carly, I need my stuff! I'm staying over at Fredweird's place instead!"_

* * *

Freddie smiled fondly as the memory replayed itself, looking at the photos that accompanied it, his favorite being one with him standing in front of his Christmas tree, with Sam on his arm, smiling brightly. It was their first Christmas break together. A week after she decided to stay at his place, he got the guts to ask her out; six years later, they were still going…but however strong they were had come into question.

_Another lonely night in Amsterdam,_

_And water moving through the sound._

_The blood is boiling in my veins,_

_And the food I can't keep down._

Feeling the wave of nostalgia come over him like a fierce tidal wave, Freddie closed out his work on his laptop and typed in the URL of a familiar website. His screen lit up with various colors and sounds, and the smile on his face remained there as he surfed through the old iCarly archives. After him, Carly and Sam decided to end it on the last day of summer vacation before they went away to college (Carly got accepted into the University of Southern Cal, where as Freddie decided to forego greener pastures so he could go to Seattle Community College with Sam), the three of them vowed to keep the website running so that eventually, one day, they could 'pass the torch', so to speak, to a new group of kids who wanted to live the dream and run their own webcast. Ever since that day, the three of them still kept in touch with their old fans, through blogs, chats, photos, and occasionally, when time allowed them to, they got together and filmed a new video for everyone.

He smiled as he watched clips from their first ever webcast all the way back in their freshman year at Ridgeway High. Simon, the boy who could shoot milk out of his eye. Brennan, the dude who could say anything you said backwards. Taryn, the pogo sticking trumpet girl. They were all there, and it made Freddie remember all the good times he had shared with his two best friends in life. His smile quickly gave way to laughter as he dug up an old 'Wake Up Spencer' clip that he and Sam had done during the website's infancy. Even when half asleep at four in the morning, Spencer was still the funniest of the funny. He then came across a video that he made specifically for Sam, which showed off her many unique talents and her natural, if not spontaneous, comedic flare. Of course, this being Sam, she kept her emotions in check during the show, but once the camera turned off, she was all over him, profusely thanking him for the wonderful present; it was her birthday that day.

_And I don't care if you don't love me,_

_And I don't care if you don't change._

_I could live inside the shadow that I cast for you,_

_If it meant that you would stay._

_And I'll be home before the morning comes,_

_You won't have to be alone._

Putting his laptop down for a moment, Freddie looked over the ledge of the balcony and stared down at the empty town circle, which only a few hours ago was so full of life and joy. He then shifted his eyes upwards towards the picturesque sky, and thought about how much Sam would love it here. You were free to do anything; there was no such thing as the word 'illegal'. Sam would have a field day or five if she were here with him right now, Freddie thought to himself, chuckling at the images in his head of Sam devouring every known animal at night for dinner before finding some unfortunate soul to street race, or something like that. Of course, she'd win. As she would always put it, "Mama doesn't play to get second place. Mama plays to win." Truthfully, that attitude had rubbed off on Freddie some; when he got home, he wasn't going to settle for second place…he was going to win back Sam and get their relationship off of the rocky road and onto solid footing once more.

Freddie got up and walked back into his room, plopping down onto his bed, grabbing the television remote and flipping through the various channels. When he first arrived in Amsterdam, it had taken him a while to grasp the language barrier and the different culture when it came to every day things such as meeting those he had to work with and watching television. But after a month and a half, he had grown adept at immersing himself with the culture, and everything was just normal to him now. But deep down, he killed to be back home, in his apartment, watching real football or even the news, where everyone spoke English. Of course, that wasn't the only reason he wanted to be home…but he wasn't so sure if Sam even wanted him back.

_I will write this down for you,_

_So you can read it._

_I will hold my breath for you,_

_Till I can't feel it._

_You don't have to see me this way,_

_Cause this way I'm okay._

_I will write this down, I will write this down._

After flipping through the channels for close to ten minutes and finding nothing worth watching, Freddie abandoned that idea and went back out to the balcony. Peering over again to look down at the town square, he noticed that it was heavy one person; a young looking girl, somewhere in her early to mid twenties. And she was…blonde. Instantly, Freddie's curiosity was piqued, but upon closer inspection (or as close as the balcony would allow him), the girl couldn't have been Sam. It didn't really look like her from Freddie's position on the sixth floor, and besides, he said aloud to himself…

"Her suitcase is pink…Sam hates the color pink more than anything in the world."

Done with looking at the mysterious blonde headed girl that was entering the hotel, Freddie sat down in his chair and glanced over his shoulder at the notepad he had sitting on the little table in the corner. It was his latest letter to Sam, one in which he subtly began to voice his concerns over the apparent separation that was happening between the two of them. He didn't know whether to write the letter as it was, or to scrap it and push off the issue until a later time. Under any other circumstance, he'd of written the letter as it was and addressed the issue; but he had another three months here, which, when thought about, wasn't really that long, so maybe he figured he could wait it out and then go home and see if things could be fixed face to face.

He just hoped that Sam didn't give up on him.

_Oh love, I'm tangled up again,_

_Oh love, when does the twisting end?  
When does this twisting end?_

_I will write this down for you,_

_So you can read it._

_I will hold my breath for you,_

_Till I can't feel it._

_You don't have to see me this way,_

_Cause this way I'm okay._

_I will write this down for you,_

_So you can read it…_

Subconsciously, Freddie reached over and grabbed his Pear Pod and pulled it out of it's charging dock, looking down at the screen and smirking upon reading the name of the song. He really did America, and he really did miss the girl he had loved like nobody else. Grabbing his notepad, Freddie looked at his letter and then shook his head, ripping the piece of paper out of the book and crumpling it up, tossing it into the garbage. He grabbed his pen and began to write down the beginning of his new letter, one that didn't mention his fear, when he noticed something blinking on his computer screen. Putting his pen and paper down, he grabbed it and observed the blinking color; it was an instant message from…Carly? Wasn't she supposed to be sleeping or something?

**Little_Miss_Carly:** Freddie! Freddie, r u there?

**Tech-Dude 92:** Yea, wut's up Carls?

**Little_Miss_Carly:** I need u to do me a favor.

**Tech-Dude 92:** That would b…wut?

**Little_Miss_Carly:** Turn around. =]

Freddie raised his eyebrows in confusion, wondering if this really was his best friend or one of her roommates messing with him. But he figured that he might as well see what the fuss was about, if there was any fuss at all. So, placing his laptop down, he opened the balcony door and walked into his room to find…

"Sam!?"

There she was, in the flesh, in all her blonde headed glory. She was giving him the trademark Sam Puckett smirk, her pink suitcase at her feet, and arms extended, almost as if she was saying, 'Ta da!', like a magician appearing out of thin air.

"What're you doing here!? And what's with the pink suitcase!?"

"It's Carly's and gee, it's good to see you too, Fredhead."

She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his body, pulling him in close and pressing him against her body. Slowly, Freddie felt himself do the same, amazed that she was actually here, but beyond curious as to **how** she got here. He pulled away and stared at her incredulously for a few moments, wondering how this could all be happening right now.

"But how…where did you…when I left, you were so…distant…what's going on?"

Removing her heavy winter coat and the scarf Carly had given her a while back, she grinned. She sat down on the edge of the bed and patted the spot next to her, inviting Freddie to sit down next to her. It was then that she finally spoke.

"The reason I was acting like that before you left was because with school and work coming down on me all at once, I was feeling pretty miserable. Then when you told me you were leaving to come here for six months, that only further made me feel moody and distant. But a few weeks after you left, Carly surprised me with a visit and we had lunch. We got to talking and then she reminded me of something…and that changed my mood drastically."

"What changed your mood drastically?"

"I'm getting to that, Fredly. Anyway, her idea got me thinking, and thinking I did. The reason I never returned your calls wasn't based on school alone. I had started to work doubles every day at the restaurant and I was too tired to ever call you back. That's why I appreciated you writing me instead, because I just responded during class and that was it."

Nothing still made any sense to Freddie. He scratched the back of his head, thinking of a logical way to put this, but nothing was coming out right. "That still doesn't explain how you got here or why you're even here in the first place, Sam."

"God, you are so thick-headed! I just told you how I got here, Benson! I worked a double every damn day so I could afford the trip out here!"

That made sense. But why…?

"And before you say anything else, Freddie…I'm here for one reason."

"Why is that?"

She leaned in and planted a deep, passionate kiss upon his lips, before breaking off and smirking at Freddie's face, who was speechless and shocked.

"Happy anniversary, dork."

But before Freddie could slap himself mentally and physically for ever forgetting about his six year anniversary with Sam, she laughed and then threw him onto the bed and gave him…well, a present he wouldn't soon forget.

Once morning broke, after the best night sleep he had gotten in a long, long time, Freddie found himself awake, laying in bed, his arm around Sam as she laid on her stomach, her head resting comfortably on his chest. He was stroking her hair, smiling to himself as he lowered his head and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead as she slept peacefully. "Happy anniversary, demon", he whispered into her ear, causing her to subconsciously smile as she continued to sleep.

Freddie didn't need to worry about missing his Miss America anymore.

She was right there in his arms…where she belonged.

* * *

**And that's all she wrote! Now obviously, they're not in high school during this fic, it's about six years after their senior year, so they're both around 24-25 years old. Hope you all enjoy this little one-shot and don't worry...the final chapter of Truth & Consequences will be out soon. Until then, enjoy the holiday season and take care! Lates!**


End file.
